Roscoe X Storia
by onetimetrip
Summary: We fight together in a three-man team. We fight against Pokemon in battle stages and other teams in deathless death-matches. My name is Akashi Akiyama, codename: Red. One shot.


**This is a one shot inspired by various anime and, of course, Pokemon. Enjoy!**

* * *

Roscoe X Storia

The air was scorched and dead, and shriveled charcoaled trees were hopelessly scattered around the landscape. With the raging afternoon sun burning in the sky, the arid and repulsive desert comprised of the lofty mountains of sand and a despairing lack of the living. The enormous plains had the common characteristics of barrenness: desolation and misery.

Right in the middle of this forsaken land that stretched out all the way to the horizon, a single creature stood, it's back hunched and eyes darting around warily. Then it froze on the spot, and became highly alert as it pinpointed its three attackers that surrounded it. Three humans, two males and one female, were closing onto the Haxorus.

"Rahhhhh!" roared the Pokemon.

It suddenly charged towards my brown-haired teammate, whose green eyes sparkled enthusiastically.

"Thanks for the meal." he muttered

His Desert Eagle fired off rapidly at the incoming target, which simply stopped its movement when the bullets hit its soft abdomen and chest. Then, with a loud cry, the large Pokemon disintegrated into tiny blue crystals that vanished a second later. The desert blanked out and reverted back into the original white space. Soon, a seven-letter word appeared and glowed golden in midair.

"Kahahaha, did you guys see that?" Green said as he puffed his chest out haughtily. Our female teammate, Leaf, ignored the spiky-haired boy.

As for me, I just gave a dry laugh before I gazed towards the hovering "victory" word. Once again, our three-man cell had cleared yet another Hunting stage. The Haxorus stage was no biggie, except that we had wasted a little ammo here and there when we made futile attempts to penetrate its hard armor.

You might wonder what I meant by "stages" and "Hunting". Then I'll tell you that this whole setting was all part of a game that was widely known as "Roscoe X Storia" back in the real world. Or shortened to be "RXS".

It was an MMORPG virtual reality game, where people referred to each other by code names, and our avatars were largely based on real looks, with a few tweaks here and there. For example, Green's eyes were customized as green, and Leaf's hair was changed to blue, as for me, I changed my eye color to fit my code name.

Players can form three-man teams together to play in Hunting and Event stages, where we defeat Pokemon and clear stages. Event stages are usually extremely hard, and only expert teams can join to fight for the top-class prizes. As we clear stages, we get to receive skill points and money which we could use it to upgrade our weapons, improve skills such as combat aptitude, sword fighting etc. Or build a team headquarters when we rack up enough coins.

When the game was first released, the main type of weapon was simple guns, but the database had grown larger, and more and more types of weapons are introduced.

Then there is the Challenge mode, where a team can fight other three-man teams in survival game style. And that is where the Pokemon comes in handy. A team can utilize any Pokemon they have defeated in the Hunting or Event stages and the stronger and type effective the Pokemon, the better the advantage the team can gain over the opponent.

In the real world, I, Leaf and Green are childhood friends. Our team is called NIJI, a name that had no meaning, and was actually thought up on a whim by the leader, Green.

"Akashi! Let's go to the next stage!" Green, or else known to us by his real name, Midori Okumura.

"I've had enough for today. Your stamina's still as stubborn as ever." Leaf sighed and proceeded to log off.

"Kae-!" Green called out, but our friend Kaede Tsukino was gone.

"Let's stop today." I agreed and gave a tired smile. We had cleared six stages today, and I could feel my real body hungering for dinner. Then, with a swiping hand motion, a holographic mini screen appeared before my eyes.

 _Do you wish to log off Roscoe X Storia?_

"Bye Midori." I waved a quick farewell before I pressed the log off button. Soon, a swirl of neon colors enveloped me like a wave and wiped out my surroundings. Very quickly, I was back to reality, on my bed with the gaming headgear on my head.

I let out a muffled sound as I removed the device and tried to set down my messy raven hair. Yawning, I hurriedly dragged myself off the bed and stretched my stiff body since I had gamed for five hours straight, then moved on to tidy up my stuff. After everything was neat, I got ready to go down for dinner, but was rudely interrupted by noises outside my window. I grumbled a little, and went to part the blue curtains.

Upon opening the pane, the familiar voice of Midori started ringing in my ears. He lived next to my house, and our bedrooms were directly opposite each other, so we would hold conversations across the houses like this since we were young. Meanwhile, Kaede lived next to Midori, so the three of us could meet each other anytime, any day.

"Akashi! You and Kaede are awful! How can you guys abandon me back in there?"

"Sorry." I replied. "That aside, don't you need to head down for dinner? Hana-san might get angry."

"Oh darn, Sis! I totally forgot about her, bye!"

And soon, my friend had tumbled away from the window, while I exited my bedroom to eat dinner with my parents.

* * *

It was pretty late in the night, and my parents were probably sleeping, but I was still surfing the net on my computer. Suddenly, a bright ring emitted out of my computer's speaker, informing me that I had mail in my email inbox. My mouse navigated across the screen and clicked onto the notification sign, and soon the mail's contents came up on the monitor.

My phone that was placed on the bed started ringing. I reluctantly went to get the device, and as expected, the caller was Midori. Knowing him, I had to go to our usual conversation spot. I declined the call and quickly did the usual thing. Sure enough, the spiky haired boy was having an unusually excited smile on his face as he waved to me from across my window.

"What is it?" I hissed, not wanting to wake my parents up.

"Did you not read the email? We've got a challenge in fifteen minutes!"

I gasped in disbelief, before slinking back to my computer. Scrutinizing the contents of the mail, I was utterly amazed and surprised. Seconds later, I went back to the window and the two of us stared at each other in wordless excitement.

"Should we accept? It's so late in the night." I asked, slightly worried.

"Are you crazy? Of course we're accepting! Anyways, it's still the holidays, and you don't have anything to do tomorrow, do you?"

"No. Does Lea- I mean Kaede, know about this?"

"She's already waiting in the game. I'll go in first, don't dilly dally any longer and come!"

Immediately after saying that, his windows closed, signifying that there it was decided that we will be playing against VeV, another expert team in the RXS.

After a few pages of setting up the game and logging in, I met up with Green and Leaf in our headquarters. We are veterans of RXS, and I can proudly say that we have made it to rankings before. And like most, or else all, teams in the game, we strive to be the best in the world. Our headquarters was pretty large, after splurging so many coins to expand it repeatedly and to decorate it. It had a mix of western elements and Japanese tradition, and was picturesque in my opinion.

Experienced teams get to have their own special team uniforms, and there are many variations of the uniforms. NIJI's uniform was similar to that of navy suits, with the sleek material, shiny silver buttons and the chic cap that had our team's insignia.

My black jacket reached half-thigh, and my collar was white with a black line running along the edge; the rest of the uniform was mainly black, with a white inner shirt and a dark navy blue tie. There's a white belt around my waist that can hold a maximum of six of weapons, a gun holster tied to my thighs, white gloves that covered my hands and lastly, polished black navy boots.

Green's was very similar to mine, except that his collar was black, and his jacket was slightly longer.

Leaf's was vastly different from us. Her jacket was sleeveless; her inner shirt was black with the short sleeves sticking out. Instead of pants, she wore a short black skirt and elegant boots that covered her calves. Other than that, the color scheme was pretty much the same.

Meanwhile, there was five minutes left till the start of the challenge, so the three of us had to get ready our weapons and the Pokemon we were going to use in this survival game.

"Okay, any objections to using Mewtwo?" Green asked.

Leaf and I shook our heads, and soon the three of us started picking our weapons. I took my favorite assault rifle, a spear knife, a handgun and a few grenades. Green endowed himself with his silver Desert Eagle, a katana and some grenades. Leaf uses a sniper rifle and has a couple of knives and short swords.

Now, here comes the explanation of moves and weapons. With a Pokemon, we can directly use its moves from our weapons in battle. For example, using a fire type Pokemon can let us use fire type moves, and the stats of our weapon mirrored the Pokemon's stats. Each team's Pokemon is not known to the other, and usually, type advantages determined which team gets the upper hand, therefore luck plays an important role in Challenge mode.

Mewtwo is a legendary Pokemon we managed to get from an Event stage, and has one of the highest stats in RXS, making it to be one the rarest Pokemon in the game. It also has a signature move Psystrike, but if VeV uses a dark, bug or ghost type, we would be in deep trouble.

After a few minutes, our avatars glowed white and we were teleported to the arena. We were surrounded by a lush green forest. Arenas were chosen at random, and the thick woods were probably one of the hardest since you can never know when the enemy will pop out of those leafy growths, so it was a given that we have to be constantly on our guard.

 _Welcome to Challenge mode, Team (NIJI) and Team (VeV)._

There we go, the usual naggy narrator.

 _Setting: Forest. Difficulty: Hard._

Difficulty levels in RXS are classified as Simple, Medium, Hard and Insane. The varying levels determine how risky the arena was.

 _Time limit: Thirty Minutes. The team with more surviving players wins._

 _Rule 1: When a player's Hit Points reaches zero, he or she is proclaimed dead and is required to return to base._

 _Rule 2: Dead players are to cease attacks on the survivors. Failure to do so will result in disqualification of the whole team._

 _Rule 3: Stealing of opponents' weapons and physical contact are allowed._

That's right. In this game, no one can "die". You can only proclaim yourself as dead, then you go back to base and spend the rest of the time to watch your teammates fights, or wallow in sorrow and defeat. It was actually rather brutal, because after being defeated, players are forced to taste the humiliation of failure.

It is no wonder that people called the Challenge mode "deathless death-matches".

 _The game will start in Three-_

We started anticipating how the VeV members would look like.

 _Two_.

What weapons and Pokemon would they use?

 _One_.

And how strong are they?

A loud blare signaled the start of the survival game, and as usual, the three of us split up. Our communication device was none other than telepathy, which was possible due to Mewtwo being a psychic type. We could even determine each other's location with our Pokemon's powers. It was all very convenient.

I ventured further and further away from the base, nimbly dodged various metal traps that threatened to tear off my limbs, and continued to journey across the thick underbrush, while being constantly on guard.

Oddly, I found no one after walking for a good five minutes. I certainly don't remember myself for being a directionless idiot, but there was just no one in the vicinity.

Scratching the back of head incredulously, I stood still to collect whatever information from the surroundings. There were just trees and green, and plants and greenery. Even after sharpening my senses, I could detect not a single avatar.

Doubtful and slightly frightened by the possibility of me being stranded forever, I gingerly moved forward as I gripped my rifle for dear life. Well, I could use telepathy to connect to Leaf and Green.

I absently shuffled forth while I tried to establish a connection. Hmm... How was it done again?

 _Hello? Hello?_ I thought to myself dumbly. _Is there anyone alive?_

Suddenly, a small beep made me sweat dropped, and my eyes trailed towards the ground when I realized my careless mistake of triggering a trap. Ropes emerged from all four sides and it did not take long for me to be twenty feet high into the air while being trapped in a hanging net.

The natural thing for me to do now was to cut these ropes, and get myself out of this uncomfortable situation. I wriggled around, and felt for my knife's handle that was non-existent. My blood went exceedingly cold and I started panicking. After checking every inch of my uniform, I squinted through the gaps of the net and surveyed the underbrush. A bright glint of metal among the dead leaves despairingly confirmed my suspicions.

I snuggled onto myself, gazed upwards and spotted a holographic timer hovering at the top. And here I was, stuck in a trap. There were three possibilities for me in such a depressing situation. One, I am saved by Leaf or Green, and I am released. Two, seventeen minutes later, the trap disengages and I am released. Three, VeV members found me and I am slaughtered helplessly.

I am not going to risk either choice two or three.

 _SOS!_ I yelled in my mind, hoping that I could connect to my comrades.

 _Red, is that you?_

 _Oh, Leaf. I need help here._

 _Sorry, you're too far away. You're on your own._

She brutally disconnected the telepathy line, and I despaired for a few seconds. Then I continued my attempts to connect to my last lifeline.

 _Midori, Midori, Midori...Green, Green, Midori, Green, Midori..._ I droned on and on, like a broken down radio.

 _Akashi? What's wrong?_

 _Stuck. On. A. Tree._

 _Sorry, I'm in much more trouble than you._

 _Huh? What is worse than being hanged twenty feet above the ground?_

 _Red, I'll do anything to swap places with you. I'm surrounded by two VeV members._

* * *

Seriously. Their uniform was one of the gaudiest ones I've ever seen. Holographic screens displayed their names, HP bar and level. The guy was called Gold, while the girl was called Crystal.

Gold wore an outfit that was similar to old England fashion back in the 1800s, the coat crimson red with a blue high collar, shiny round gold buttons and large blue cuffs that had pleated frills. He even wore black breeches, white waistcoat, boots, and a cravat. A green sash that was tied around his abdomen held his weapons, and I, Midori Okumura, was astonished beyond reasoning.

The boy, who seemed to be younger than me by at least two years, had a pair of regal yet mischievous gold eyes that feasted on me like a predator. His blue-black hair was styled in a way that a tuft of fringe jutted out, fitting his features nicely. A too-big pirate hat nestled atop his head, the bunches of fur drooping at the side of the hat's brim.

Crystal had brown hair that was tied into pigtails, and her eyes were of a chocolate color. She was garbed in a brown vest, a white and baggy long-sleeve inner shirt that unfortunately had frills sticking out at the cuffs. A red checkered skirt complemented the top, with white ruffles underneath the piece of clothing. Her hat was smaller than her teammate, and it had a dirty-looking bow adorning the band. Lastly, her footwear was a pair of black boots that completed the look.

I held up my Desert Eagle cautiously, while managing to suppress my urge to laugh. Then, shooting multiple glances at their hands and waists, I studied their weapons. Unsurprisingly, they had flintlock pistols and cutlasses. The girl even had a bazooka aiming at me.

"Playing Pirates?" I mocked condescendingly, as my index finger rested against the trigger.

"I could say the same thing to you, navy officer." the boy taunted back as he held me at gunpoint with his pistol that had ornate carvings on the wood.

"Mr Navy." the girl whispered. "We're pirates, so we'll do things the pirate way."

A "ker-chak" was heard, and suddenly, Crystal blasted off her bazooka towards me. I instinctively sidestepped, barely dodged the attack and the dived towards the right of Gold to take cover. The projectile crashed into the trunk of the tree that was behind me and exploded into a cloud of debris and dust.

Crystal clicked her tongue in annoyance, and got ready to fire another shot, but was stopped by Gold, who extended his left arm out. He then glared at me, and took out his cutlass, the metal blade shining with murderous intent. I hurriedly picked myself up and mirrored my opponent's moves, unsheathing my katana from its scabbard.

He charged towards me and swung down his cutlass, in which I easily deflected the attack. The clash between blades made loud squeals and clanks of metal to reverberate into the air. My sword skills were way higher than him, so after a few thrusts and slashes, I effectively disarmed him. Gold gasped in shock, as his eyes glanced at his cutlass that was a meter away from him. He could not react in time, and soon I dealt a blow at his chest. He whimpered in pain, his HP bar 6% gone.

While Gold was busy retrieving his cutlass, I wasted no time to fire three accurate shots that damaged Crystal, who quickly recomposed herself. Shouting a battle cry, she fired off another missile towards me from behind her teammate. I dashed to the side, thinking that I would once again evade the attack. However, a shiver went up my spine when the projectile turned towards me like a snake.

A homing missile?!

The sharp point of the projectile hit me squarely on the back, and the pain stung me painfully. The lingering burning sensation pricked me as I stood up, my HP one-fifth gone. My two opponents were strangely silent, probably shocked that the attack had not really damaged me. I am, after all, a high leveled player.

While I dusted my pants, I felt my lips curling up into odd angles. I chuckled a little, and then turned my head to face the two kids.

"Good job of damaging me." I praised as I continued grinning sadistically. "Now, it's my turn."

I kept my katana that was lying intact on the ground, and then I turned my whole body to face Gold and Crystal. The Captain, seemingly mistaking that I was about to attack, used his flintlock gun to fire a type attack.

"Hydro Pump!"

Water gushed out dangerously at high pressure out of his gun's muzzle, but in return, I canceled his attacks with two bullets.

"It can't be! Does that gun have a nullification property?" Crystal shouted, flabbergasted. I nodded at her words, as I pointed my weapon towards the startled opponents. Nullification properties were rare, and having it can help a player cancel out type attacks by using normal ammo.

The boy cursed audibly, and then using his incredible physical reflexes, he sped up towards me like an instant lightning bolt, and let out an Ice Fang at close range. The unexpected move sliced me, reducing my HP by another one-fifth.

Gold quickly unleashed another Hydro Pump, and I applaud him for doing so. He was probably aware that he would die if he were to relax even for a millisecond. Crystal went to her comrade's aid and jumped forth to unleash a Bubble Beam from her own gun.

Here's another round of applause. For your useless attempts, that is.

"Protect." I mumbled. A green barrier formed around me immediately, bouncing the attacks off me harmlessly. This defense move was usually used as a last resort, since I only have one chance to use it. Gold and Crystal spontaneously scooted away from me, their guns still pointing at me. I smiled, as I raised and directed my Desert Eagle towards the two. The barrier was slowly disappearing, and the moment it was completely gone, it would signify the start of my merciless attacks.

"Hey, VeV." I called out, causing my enemies to flinch at my words. I sighed, and then continued, "What's your Pokemon?

"S-Suicune." Crystal answered. I nodded a little, and soon the three of us reverted back to silent mode while the defensive barricade faded off into nothingness. And in seconds, all of us were exposed to each other's attacks.

"Hydro Pump!" both members bellowed.

"Aura Sphere!" My gun glowed blue and unleashed the blue ball of power.

The two moves clashed and the pressure that surrounded the water and fighting type attacks pushed us back. I shielded myself from the strong gale and faintly heard a small feminine cry. Searching for any VeV member, Crystal came into my line of sight while I focused my strength on my toes to prevent myself from getting blown back any further.

Thoughts ran through my head as I assessed the girl's condition. Her level was not all that high, and her HP was around sixty percent full. Needless to say, this was the best opportunity for me to land the killing blow.

Despite all the hindering dusts and sand that were biting at my eyes, I carefully aimed at my unsuspecting target. The moment I positioned the gun towards Crystal, the aiming function of the game appeared in my vision, with all the numbers and the target circle locking onto the prey. Then, a digital voice inside my head spoke:

 _Accuracy: 100%. Power: 90. Noise: 80%. Resonance: 120%. Feedback complete, Desert Eagle, ready to fire in one second._

"Psychic." I said to myself.

A whirring sound emitted from my weapon, and soon, a tiny purple sphere formed at the muzzle and was bombarded forward. From a third person's perspective, it would appear as if the shot had dissipated in mid horizontal flight as it whizzed towards the target. And yet, Crystal was struck by the attack. She convulsed and shrieked in pain, the damage cutting her HP bar to zero.

Psychic is an offensive and telekinetic move, where its power is amplified the moment the "bullet" vanishes. So effectively, an invisible and overwhelming strong force had hit the girl, who was now standing up all wobbly and baffled. By now, the gale had died down, and Gold was staring quizzically at his teammate, neither of them aware of what had happened. Flummoxed and muddled in the head, Crystal murmured, "I'm dead."

"What?" Gold cried out, bewilderment registered all over his face. It did not take long for their fears to come true when a digital voice spoke from nowhere.

"Player: Crystal from Team (VeV). Eliminated."

"I-I'm really dead." She stuttered in dismay. Gold then switched his focus onto me, sweat rolling down his cheeks when he understood who the killer was. Hoisting his gun, he jabbed it at me and demanded, "What did you do?!"

I opened my mouth to answer, but was interrupted when another low voice broadcast from above us, "Initiating death sequence 01."

"Oi, oi, oi," I drawled. "What now?"

When death sequences were initiated, it was always something unpleasant that could destroy all the players. I became more vigilant of the surroundings, getting ready to react to any sudden calamity that was going to befall all of us.

"Answer me!" yelled Gold, who started shooting normal bullets at me, the smell of gunpowder permeating the air. I stifled a yelp, and promptly dodged them, before scampering up the tree with my climbing skills. Stationing myself atop the low branch, I shouted at the crazed boy who was glaring at me, "I don't have the time for this! The death sequence coming, and if you want to survive, cool down!"

The VeV leader paused for a little, and finally put down his gun and consented grudgingly. Crystal, on the other hand, seemed rather apathetic about the upcoming danger, since she was already dead.

"I'll walk around and check for any odd signs before going back to base." She offered, and soon she disappeared from our sight. I remained on the tree, while Gold distracted himself by keeping his cutlass and inspecting his gun. Around a minute after Crystal left, a crackle sound caused my opponent to impatiently whip out a transceiver-like device and he listened to the speaker raptly. Then, with a look of appalment, he dazedly uttered, "Poisonous gas?"

Afterwards, he stared at me and said, "She doesn't know what the effects of the gas are."

"Well, duh. The dead can't be killed twice." I enunciated. Gold nodded and then let out a groan when the transmission line was cut short. Momentarily breaking my gaze away from him, I scrutinized the area, the elevated height of the branch providing me a clearer view. I descried a trail of mist skulking up to us, and I took it upon myself to observe it as close as possible.

"Ah-hah." I exclaimed delightfully when I realized the gas' properties, before I proceeded to watch my enemy, who was incognizant to the sneaky poison gas. Having inhumane thoughts of stranding him down there to die, I sniggered to myself.

Although after a moment of rumination, I concluded that I should be more saintly, and immediately called out.

"Hey, you should climb up."

"Why?"

"The gas is denser than air; it's safe if you're higher up."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You punk..! I'm being nice here and this is what you give me?"

"We're fundamentally enemies."

"Fine, then die down there, Pirate."

I reclined myself on the branch, letting my legs dangle freely as I ignored the VeV leader. Hearing a faint shout, I bent forward to enjoy watching his demise and sure enough, he was surrounded by clouds of gas there were almost as tall as him. That idiot probably had ten seconds before the murderous vapor swallowed him.

Gold then exceeded all expectations when he abruptly retained his gun and deftly launched himself sideways, his soles landing onto the trunk of the tree to his right on with a loud stomping noise. With enough force, he sprang further up and his hands nimbly grasped a thin branch. Swinging himself, he sailed across the air, did a somersault and accomplished a faultless landing onto a thick branch of a tree that was adjacent to the tree I was on.

"What the… Are you a monkey?" I remarked, irked that he managed to survive with that outrageous dexterity of his.

"Shut up!" he snapped. "Don't you regret for not killing me."

I snorted derisively, and waved my free hand vacuously. Then, my eyes narrowed as I stared at the shiny surface of my Desert Eagle. Chortling all of a sudden, I switched hands and then nonchalantly pointed the handgun at Gold, who quickly equipped his English gun.

"I have plenty of chances to kill you. Like, now." I warned.

Then we started attacking each other, the bullets flying all over. My branch was cracking, and I instinctively leaped to the next tree, and continued my assault. Digging into my pockets, I took out two grenades and after removing the safety pins, I threw it in Gold's direction. Emerging from the smoke, he appeared undamaged, which ticked me off. He then shouted over the noise, "You have not told me what you'd done to Crystal!"

"Stubborn, aren't you." I growled. Staring at his gold eyes, I broke into a condescending smile as I asked, "Do you really want to know that badly?"

"Yes!" He yelled.

"Then have a taste of it yourself." I stated. Aiming my Desert Eagle towards him, I commanded the system in my mind so that I could use Psychic, totally expecting the aiming function to appear within my vision. Meanwhile, my finger was already on the trigger, eager to fire the bullet.

 _Unable to fire move: Psychic. Desert Eagle, not loaded. Please put in ammunition._

Widening my eyes in disbelief, I exasperatedly fumbled through my pockets for ammo. Meanwhile, Gold continued to attack relentlessly. I spat at him hatefully, and tried to create a distance between us. Abandoning the old gun magazine, I shoved a new one into the handgun.

Cheering to myself, I aimed my right foot onto a random tree branch in order to pivot myself backwards to face Gold. The moment I stepped onto my foothold, I circled around, my eyes targeting the incoming Gold. Quickly directing the system once more, the aiming function was at long last, initialized.

 _Accuracy: 100%. Po-_

In a fraction of a second, the aim circle had strayed far away from the center, causing the function to fail. And the reason for this was due to the flimsy branch snapping into two, plunging me right into the sea of poison gas.

"FUUUU…!"

I did not get to finish the vulgarity as I crash-landed, the venomous vapor scalding my whole body. The pain only lasted for a while, and as expected, my death was announced.

"Player: Green from Team (NIJI). Eliminated."

Standing up, I found myself giving a forced smile towards Gold, who was making fun of me up on the tree. Just like a monkey.

"How the heck did you fall down?" He asked, tears of laughter spilling out of his gold eyes.

"Just. Shut. Up." I snarled. "Or I'll kill you."

"That's against the rules."

"Whatever."

"By the way, what is your team's Pokemon? Is it a fighting type?"

"Not telling."

"Stingy."

"Well, the dead can't talk."

"Fine. Meanwhile, my other teammate is probably going to kill off the female NIJI member."

He left, the bright tufts of fur on his pirate hair billowing behind him.

"Leaf, gets killed?" I chuckled. "Not so easy, Captain."

* * *

All around me was an orchestra conducted by nature itself. The rustling of the leaves were the flutes. The crickets were the clarinets, and the birds were the saxophones. The trumpets and trombones consisted of a celestial silence that played out the melody. I, Tsukino Kaede, code name Leaf, hummed along with the music, while watching the exterior through the rifle's scope. Silence was truly the best way for me to escape time, and I found myself quiet and composed even when there was poisonous gas lurking on the forest ground.

Meanwhile, I contemplated about my teammates, and how they were faring. Red was stuck somewhere, but his position made it troublesome for me to go out of my way to help him.

As for Green, that lucky bastard had received the chance to fight two VeV members. Right now, each team had two surviving members, and VeV's equipped Pokemon was Suicune. It was a good thing that we did not have the type disadvantage.

Meanwhile, I was situated in a hidden hole in the middle of the trunk of a giant oak tree. I simpered, feeling pleased with my find. The entrance has been just the right size for me to squeeze in, while the depth and length were impeccable.

Propping my sniper rifle at the edge of the hole, I patiently waited for any target that was coming my way. According to the dead Green, one VeV member was coming after me, yet after twelve minutes into the game, there was no sign of the enemy.

But what if my opponent was a sniper like me?

The possibility was high, and my arms relaxed as my suspicions became all the more convincing the more I thought about it. If it were true, everything would end up in a stalemate, until one of us emerges out of our respective hiding places.

Sighing, I decided to temporarily cease my strategy of waiting for a chance, and finally got out of my secret position. Soon, I nimbly tiptoed on the branch of the oak tree, and searched for signs of a sniper in the vicinity.

In a fraction of a second, a lethal bullet zipped past me, circles of rainbow lights trailing after it. Strands of my hair were lined with ice, and the edge of my ear was frozen after the Aurora Beam had grazed it. If I were any slower in reacting, I would have been done in by the ice attack. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted a glint of a marksman's scope and swiftly headed towards the shooter that had been hiding in the tree tops.

A fast shadow whirred out of the canopy, his arms carrying a flintlock cum sniper rifle as he glided away. I chased after him, my hands trying to steady my modern rifle. I managed to discern a few features of the VeV member: flaming red hair, grey eyes and wearing an outlandish pirate costume. And his name Silver was displayed right next to his avatar.

He seemingly decided to stop running away, and halted his footsteps on a sturdy branch. Unzipping the long bag that was slung at him, he kept his ancient rifle. Next, he took out a pirate-ish Sabre sword and swung it around meanly.

I, too, decided to keep my rifle, since it was difficult for us to have a gun fight with such big-ass firearms.

Neither of us spoke, as we charged towards each other, me having multiple knives in my hands. He brandished the sword blade violently, trying to hack and slash at me, while I threw my knives at him.

"Ice Fang!" He yelled and unleashed the ice attack at close proximity.

"Psycho Cut!" I swung down a short sword in the nick of time, and negated the attack. My weapons lacked the nullification property Green had, so this was the only way to protect myself. After the impact died down, we started brawling. In RXS, physical contact was allowed, which meant that punches can damage enemies, and as a sniper, it was important for me to have high points in the fighting category for close combat.

He thrust his sword towards me, while I nimbly dodged it and sent a knife over in his face. Then I let off a barrage of punches, whittling his HP down in mere seconds. He gagged painfully, tears forcing out of his eyes, but I did not stop there. Swinging a roundhouse kick to his face, he was knocked off the thick branch.

Silver's avatar was dropping headfirst towards the poison gas, and I momentarily thought that my victory was ascertained. Suddenly, a loud noise made me look down in surprise, and right below, the red haired boy had rammed his sword into the tree trunk, stopping his fall.

"Not yet..." He gasped. Pushing himself up, he took out two daggers and plunged them into the tree, clearly trying to make his way back up to safety. But I was not going to let him do so, and wasted no time to aim my rifle towards him. At this distance, it was certain death that awaited him.

"Blizzard!" Silver ordered. I widened my eyes in shock when hails of snow and ice rained down all around me. My vision was totally wiped to white, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the icy stones battered me, my HP reduced by half.

After the horrendous snowstorm was over, I discovered that Redhair had disappeared. He couldn't have gone far, and I clung onto my rifle as I tentatively moved a few steps forward to get a better view of the environment.

However, I did not manage to steal even one glance of anything when I felt killing intent creeping up behind me. Instinctively, I held out my long weapon and blocked the attack, the Sabre sword millimeters away from the tip of my nose. Silver's strength was not to be misjudged by his skinny appearance, and I found myself being pushed to the flat surface of the branch. In such a predicament, I did the only plausible thing to save my skin.

The virtual reality gaming system programmed our senses as lifelike as possible, with the exception of our sense of pain. The pain absorption level is primarily set at 90%, so a non-fatal stab would feel like a needle pricking your skin.

I wonder how painful a kick to your groin is.

Sliding my avatar out of the awkward spot, I felt just a little guilty for committing that act when I saw Silver clutching "that" with a look of agony on his pretty face.

Anyways, this is a chance for me to make a comeback. While my enemy was trying to recover, I ran off and hid myself in the bushy thicket of the forest. Positioning myself, I pointed my sniper rifle at the pitiful Silver.

 _Accuracy: 100%. Power: 90. Noise: 80%. Resonance: 120%. Feedback complete, M001 Nero, ready to fire in three seconds._

"Sorry." I muttered with a tinge of sympathy. "Psychic."

The bullet shot forth, disappearing in mid-flight and the moment Silver gazed up with a disoriented expression, he was struck down.

Smiling happily in celebration of my victory, I skipped off to save Red, the damsel in distress.

* * *

"Player: Silver from Team (VeV). Eliminated."

"What?" I, Gold, involuntarily cried out. I had never expected that Gin would lose. Then again, it was also regrettable that Kotone was defeated for reasons unknown. NIJI had exceeded our expectations, and we might have picked the wrong team to challenge.

Shaking my head, I pushed away the negative thoughts of losing and focused on finding the other male NIJI member. If I could defeat that person and then stay hidden until the thirty minute limit is up, VeV need not suffer a loss. I have to be extra careful here, since I had no idea what Pokemon they utilized, and what tricks they have left upon their sleeves. Additionally, my HP was left with three-quarters, so I could not afford to make any mistakes.

There were approximately ten minutes left and I frantically searched for the last member. I was now jumping from tree to tree, trying to locate my target. The leaves rustled as I passed by, my hands clammy with sweat as I got more and more urgent. The arena was not all that big, but I just could not find him!

"Midori..." A feeble voice spoke.

My whole body went rigid and I rotated my head backwards like a robot, my eyes, unable to believe what I was seeing. Sweat dropping out of incredulity, I blinked twice, and gaped at my target, who was apparently trapped within a hanging net.

Yet he was sleeping. And sleep-talking at the same time.

My mouth went opened and closed many times, before I got control of myself. Well, sleeping was possible in RXS, but it was suicidal to sleep during a survival game.

Yet the last member of NIJI, was sleeping peacefully without a care in the world.

The horizontal holographic screen that appeared next to him read his name as Red, and surprisingly, his level was much higher than Green. Whether he was a fool or someone of unbelievable power, I could not decide which.

Taking up my flintlock pistol, I pointed it at him, wondering if I should really shoot him just like this. But I had no choice. My current strongest move would not be able to kill with just one attempt, so I had to do this before he gets out of that net.

Sighing, I commanded, "Hydro Pump."

 _Accuracy: 80%. Power: 110. Noise: 48%. Resonance: 103%. Feedback complete, Ethanos, ready to fire in one second._

Water burst out of my pirate gun, and went smack into the oblivious Red. When the type move ended, I got ready to fire the next one, but stopped short when my target was still in deep slumber, and his HP bar was only reduced by around 18%.

Annoyance gained new levels within my mind the more I looked at that face, and I became pissed off at his nonchalance. Gritting my teeth, I mumbled out the name of the same attack. The same aiming function popped out and I willingly fired off the water attack.

Hydro Pump hit Red once more, and his HP bar was down to 64%. At this rate, I can finish him off if I hit him three more times, so I was both glad and irritated at the same time towards the fact that he is asleep. Getting ready to release a barrage of Hydro Pump, I aimed the gun at that raven-haired kid.

Until I noticed his eyes sedately opening, those crimson irises so bright and breathtaking. Gulping nervously, I focused on destroying this enemy that was still trapped within the net.

"Ah, ah, ah... Wrong move." he called out, causing my nerves to freeze. Red then stretched lazily and his half-opened eyes scanned the surroundings drowsily. He switched his focus onto me, and spoke, "You.. Shouldn't have attacked me twice."

 _Condition to initiate Future Sight: Two attacks to the user. Condition, fulfilled. Future Sight, initiated._

An ominous and digital voice resounded in my head, and finally I realized the trap Red had set. He had set the psychic attack to go off the moment he was damaged twice, and I just made the huge blunder to do so. Clenching my fists, I awaited the harm that was going to be dealt upon me.

Throbbing sensations knocked into me, and psychic waves were sent to my brain, making me feel dizzy and uncomfortable. The pain lasted for around thirty seconds, and I panted as my legs threatened to lose strength. My blurry vision checked my HP bar, and it was already down to 33%. NIJI's attacks were unbelievably strong, proven when Kotone was defeated in one move. And if Future Sight was used, NIJI's Pokemon was most likely to be a psychic type.

"Ah, ten more seconds" He yawned.

I wondered what he meant, but did not waste the precious chance to fire off another Hydro Pump. His HP was then left at 46%.

Exactly ten seconds later, the net trap disengaged, but instead of falling down into the poison gas, Red's avatar suddenly grabbed onto the insubstantial remains of the net. I hurriedly aimed my flintlock pistol towards him, wanting to prevent him from climbing back up, until a grenade was thrown towards me all of a sudden. It exploded, the smoke thwarting my attempt to shoot.

Red then emerged out and landed on the branch above the disengaged trap, the guy having a neutral look. His red eyes stared at me while I lifted my gun to fire another Hydro Pump. The water attack roared forth, but was instead rendered useless when my opponent was suddenly engulfed in a translucent indigo sphere.

"Protect again?!" I moaned, displeased that the enemy had so many defense moves.

"Not quite." Red disagreed, an unsettling smile on his face.

In a heartbeat, the sphere expanded at an unforeseen rate, and finally I identified the Pokemon NIJI used.

"Mewtwo." I rasped. I could never escape from Psystrike, and the vicious attack neared onto me. The instance I got in contact with the psychic move, explosions boomed, drummed and thrummed all over me, causing me to shout in pain. I could only place my hopes on Suicune's high defense stat and pray for my survival.

After the impact ended, I found myself lying sprawled on the branch, pistol missing, but more importantly, my HP bar was in the red, at 9%.

Perceiving a presence approaching me, I drew out my cutlass and directed the blade up to the enemy, who in turn, was holding me at gunpoint. Perspiration rolled down my cheeks, and my hands were trembling. Willing myself to stop freaking out, I salvaged whatever courage was left in me and looked up into Red's eyes.

We had a minute long stare, and I had expected him to say something, but he stayed silent. Resigning to our fate of losing in this challenge, I sighed and asked,"What are the names of the NIJI's members?"

"Red. Green and Leaf?" he replied, a little confused at my question.

"No, your real names."

"What for?"

"I'd like to know the identities of the players that bested VeV in RXS."

He pursed his lips, as if thinking if he should answer me.

"Green is Midori Okumura, Leaf is Tsukino Kaede," he spoke with a slight reluctance. "And I'm Akashi Akiyama."

Smiling, I did the same thing by introducing me and my teammates, "Silver is Sakaki Gin, Crystal is Kotone Shizuoka, and I'm Hibiki Enomoto."

Red laughed, and then said, "Shall we get back to business, Pirate?"

"Of course, Navy Officer." I agreed. "Do kill me nice and easy."

"Certainly." Red responded.

A loud gunshot echoed through the woods, and gunpowder permeated the air, signalling the victory of a certain team in the virtual reality game Roscoe X Storia.

* * *

 **Do check out my other ongoing fanfiction.**

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 **Cheers,**

 **onetimetrip.**


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